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Taking down the big ape

A cultural critic examines the racial undertones in "King Kong."

THE PLOT: Peter Jackson's CGI remake of the 1933 black-and-white version. The interspecies love story/adventure centers around a film crew's impromptu voyage to mysterious Skull Island, where it captures a gigantic ape and brings it back to New York. The crew includes reckless director Carl Denham (Jack Black), winsome actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) and valorous screenwriter Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody).

INSIDER'S CREDENTIALS: Elvis Mitchell is an African-American entertainment critic whose work often delves into cultural and racial issues. He has been a film critic for The New York Times and National Public Radio, and a visiting lecturer at Harvard, where he taught "The African-American Experience in Film: 1930-1970." Mitchell hosts The Treatment, a syndicated radio program on pop culture and film.

OVERVIEW: "Watching this Kong, I kept thinking that nobody has come up with a way to deal with the racial dynamics of the period and make that an interesting part of the story. The sad thing is that this was the movie Peter Jackson wanted to make; I think he was so concerned with getting all of the creatures on the screen that he ended up shorting himself in terms of the story."

Disc 1, Scene 12: Jimmy's Story -- Hayes (Evan Parke), the heroic black first mate, speaks to Jimmy (Jamie Bell), a whiteformer stowaway, about getting a better life.

"I think they put Hayes in the movie as a way to deal with the [implicit racism we later see with the island natives]. Clearly they couldn't have made him the screenwriter or the director. As soon as he gives that noble speech, you might as well butter this guy up, because he's toast."

Disc 1, Scene 15: "We're filming on an island now?" -- Denham and Driscoll work out a new scene for their movie that must be kept a secret from the crew.

"Jack Black was a great choice for Denham, and I wish they gave him more funny stuff to do. He has those cartoonish dark eyes that burn bright with obsession and self-absorption. What director isn't like that?"

Disc 1, Scene 26: The Sacrifice -- The natives of Skull Island bind Darrow and offer her to Kong in a savage ritual.

"The natives are just figures to advance the plot. It's not like we get any idea of their society or why they sacrifice women. You can't watch the film without thinking about how they didn't address a culture that somehow survived with every type of prehistoric creature. Apparently, they're not as smart as Darrow, who later comes out and does bad tap-dancing and pantomime."

Disc 2, Scene 47: Kong in New York -- Kong breaks free and runs wild, chased by armed forces.

"The New York stuff seemed slipshod. The scenes looked like stock footage from Cinderella Man. I was waiting for Russell Crowe to come out and take down the ape. Now that's a movie I'd like to see, 'Cinderella vs. King Kong.' "

-- Rocky Rakovic